October 26, 2016

Winnipeg the true winner of the 2016 Heritage Classic

The 2016 Heritage Classic was delayed by about 90 minutes and the home team couldn't generate a goal. But Winnipeg was the real winner in the 2016 Heritage Classic.

The Edmonton Oilers posted the 3-0 shutout, scoring all 3 goals in the 2nd period. The road team is now 14-4-1 in NHL outdoor games. No goals from Connor McDavid and Patrik Laine. No incredible Winnipeg Jets 2016 comeback.

The effort to showcase Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Jets and the team history was a resounding success.

The intense rivalry between these franchises in the 1970s and 1980s was news to a lot of people who didn't know much about hockey in Winnipeg. The perception of a lack of playoff success was explained that the Jets ran into the buzzsaw that was the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s. The Jets of the 1970s did enjoy huge success in the WHA.

The Heritage Classic gave us a chance to learn more about the tradition of hockey in Winnipeg.

The Winnipeg Jets dominated the WHA: in the 7 seasons of the league, the Jets won 3 Avco Cups and lost 2 other final rounds. The Jets won the Avco Cup in 1976, 1978, and 1979. Winnipeg lost to the New England Whalers in 1973 and Quebec Nordiques in 1977.

The Jets teams of the 1980s were rather successful but lost out to the Edmonton Oilers in the Smythe Division playoffs. The team clashed in the playoffs 6 times between 1983-1990. Edmonton won all 6 series ad 5 of those times the Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup. What is even more remarkable is that Winnipeg only won 4 playoff games in those 6 series. 3 of those wins came in 1990 when Winnipeg went up 3-1 on a winning goal in double OT in Game 4.

The 90-minute delay didn't seem that bad. There were plenty of ways to fill the time. A rerun of After Hours with Wayne Gretzky and Dale Hawerchuk. The interview with Scott Oake wasn't truly live like the traditional After Hours but was a rich interview.

Strumbellas, Sum 41, Tom Cochrane. The music enriched the experience for the fans in person and on TV. Music and hockey go well together, especially in the Canadian versions of NHL outdoor games.

The alumni game was almost as big a draw as the regular game. The players took the event pretty seriously.

Teemu Selanne had a pair of goals, including the game winner on a penalty shot with 3.6 ticks left, to give the Jets alumni the 6-5 win. Though Selanne is associated with Anaheim in the states, the Finnish star got his start in Winnipeg, setting a record of 76 goals in his rookie season in Winnipeg.

A lot of the players involved for both teams were part of that intense rivalry. There were even some players who played for both teams. This was illustrated during the alumni game when Willy Lindstrom played the first 2 periods for Edmonton and then was "traded" to the Winnipeg squad for the 3rd period. Lindstrom was traded from Winnipeg to Edmonton in March 1983 for Laurie Boschman.

The game also featured the top colour analysts in Canada and the United States. Craig Simpson played for the Oilers while Ed Olczyk played for the Jets. Jim Hughson and Kelly Hrudey even got Olczyk to call a penalty shot on the Rogers Sportsnet telecast.

Scott Oake is from Winnipeg. For a lot of years at the CBC, Oake covered a lot of events outside his native city. The 15-year cavern between the Jets 1.0 and Jets 2.0 made a huge difference. True, there might have been some Winnipeg Blue Bombers games in the CFL on CBC, but the Blue Bombers haven't won a Grey Cup since 1990.

Oake was the on-ice host both days and even got to host an After Hours from Winnipeg. He even hosted the look back at great Winnipeg Jets moments in the second intermission of the Heritage Classic.

Oake got to do all of this and didn't even have to sleep in a hotel room.

NBC has a habit of making things a bit hokie in its coverage, but some of that hokie approach would have been helpful. We got very few shots of the crowd, no vantage point of where the sightlines from the seats, no shots of tailgating fans.

The Rogers Sportsnet telecast was thorough on elements on and around the ice and virtually silent about the crowd.

Winnipeg and weather delays hasn't been just alliteration in 2016. The Heritage Classic delay was due to sunshine but Investors Group Field has seen some weather troubles this year. The Blue Bombers season opener against the Montréal Alouettes on June 24 was delayed by an hour due to lightning. The most extreme case was August 3 against Hamilton where the start time of the game was pushed to past 10 pm Central time. The threat of lightning, even as the rain hadn't fallen yet, made for intriguing TV.